Page 14 of Rescued Love
“The animals were fed this morning before I let them out of the barn,” I let Ansel and Dixon know, which has them shooting me a grin.
“Great,” Ansel’s voice is chipper, “that means Salt can’t eye me like I’m lunch.”
I bark out a laugh and nod. “No, only I got to experience that this morning.” I shiver slightly remembering how Salt stepped closer to me and made a sound I know was meant to intimidate. It worked. “Salt was definitely threatening me this morning. I’m tempted to lock my door at night,” I admit, my tone joking even though I’m partially serious.
“I’m not sure she’ll be able to get in the house,” Dixon teases me.
“Wouldn’t put it past her,” I grumble as we start mucking out the stalls.
The longer we work together, the nicer it is to have someone working next to me to get things done quicker. This kind of work is something I’m not used to, but it’s become second nature in the days since I arrived at Grandpa’s sanctuary.
The man is tight lipped about the legality of the whole thing, even though I’ve tried to get him to open up about it. I’ve asked if he’s applied for permits or if I can help him with legal paperwork to get registered or something.
Admittedly, I didn’t ask about it until after meeting Kimball. The thought of anyone taking this away from Grandpa has my blood icing over. I’ve seen the man smile in the last few days, but I can still see the sadness in his eyes over losing Grandma.
I can imagine the sadness would be so much worse if he didn’t have the animals to keep him occupied.
Knowing he’s been out here doing all this work by himself has me feeling guilty as fuck. Even though my trip back to the city isn’t set in stone, the thought of leaving him to continue this work and leaving him out here by himself leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
But is there another option?
“Mr. Jacobson said there were some fences that needed to be mended as well,” Ansel mentions, and I snap my head toward him.
My voice is tinged with apprehension, “Which pen?”
His laughter echoes around us in the barn before assuring me, “He knows Salt has it out for us even though he tries to deny it. It’s on the fence line where Mr. Whiskers hangs out.”
I breathe a sigh of relief and watch as Ansel and Dixon move with ease as they collect everything that we need to get the job done since the stalls are done. It’s clear they’ve been out here a lot; I’m curious how much.
“I’m not trying to sound ungrateful,” I start, and the guys share a look before giving me their full attention, “but why do you come out here and help out?”
“Mr. Jacobson needs it,” Ansel tells me simply, but his explanation is a little thin.
Dixon rolls his eyes and gives his friend a friendly shove. “Really? We didn’t always come out here, but one of Ansel’s friends, Kimball, started to drop hints about Mr. Jacobson needing some extra hands. We knew he probably wouldn’t ask for it.”
The mention of Kimball’s name has my back straightening, and it doesn’t go unnoticed, even though neither mention it. “He wouldn’t,” I agree, “I think it’s a pride thing.” My shoulders drop a little bit before I admit, “I had no idea he even had all these animals. That’s my fault, honestly, because I didn’t reach out as much as I should have. I got caught up in life and shit.”
“College?” There’s no judgement in Ansel’s question, only curiosity.
“And then law school,” I confirm with a nod. “Then life kind of snowballed. I started working at the criminal defense firm where I did my internship.” I shake my head and look away to take in my grandpa’s land as we head out to the pen where Mr. Whiskers is grazing in the distance, but I’m not really seeing any of it. No, I’m deep in my head and questioning when everything in my life fucking changed. “It wasn’t even the type of law I wanted to practice. I wanted to help people, maybe work for anonprofit or something. I didn’t want to be in criminal law at all, but I had a knack for it and the internship was one of the most sought after, so I pursued it.”
I shake myself out of my thoughts and realize that I probably shared way too fucking much with two guys I don’t even know. When I glance at them, they aren’t looking at me like I’m the piece of shit I sometimes feel like because I defend people, some of them criminals who shouldn’t get off even though they do.
“Life can sometimes get away from you,” Ansel muses and I wonder what the story is there because there is clearly one.
Kimball swims through my mind and I wonder if his comment has anything to do with her. Jealousy races through my veins and almost takes me to my knees. The thought of him wanting her, of being with her, even though Dixon only referred to them as friends, has me seeing red.
It makes no fucking sense.
Dixon’s voice is filled with curiosity, “How long has it been since you’ve been back here to visit?”
“Fuck,” I groan, “The last time I was here, I wasn’t even in high school. It’s been a while,” I admit, defeat sitting heavy in the middle of my chest.
I failed my grandpa. The man who felt like he was larger than life when I was growing up. I’ve always looked up to my dad, but there was something about Grandpa that made me worship him in a whole other way. Maybe it was just as simple as his life seeming to be so different from my own.
The world around us when I was in his presence felt slower. Easier.
Now, looking back, I think that feeling had nothing to do with Grandpa and everything to do with coming here during the summer. I was allowed to take on a slower pace and didn’t have the same pressure being at home brought.